Page 85 of Reckoning

“How am I?” I haven’t done anything. I stuck to the rules Koen gave me. I haven’t left without his men following me. Beyond learning to ride a motorbike I haven’t done anything reckless at all.

“You’re cursed.” He says.

I blink, wondering if I’ve misheard him, or that maybe this is some sort of a joke, but the look on his face tells me it isn’t.

“Cursed?” I repeat, unable to keep the scorn from my voice.

“You’re unlucky.” He states. “You’re whole family is. You bring death and destruction wherever you go and you’re going to get us all killed.”

What the fuck is he talking about?

“That’s enough.” Someone says behind us.

I turn and see Colt eyeing us both warily like he’s not sure how to defuse this situation.

My anger spikes and I cross my arms, glaring at him as if he’s the one who just insulted me. “Do you think I’m cursed?” I ask.

His face hardens but he drops his gaze. “It’s not for me to say.”

I gulp, taking a step back. Is he serious? Are they both serious? They’re grown men, what the fuck is this? “I’m not cursed.” I state feeling like this is ridiculous.

“Yes, you are. You think I didn’t check, you think I didn’t look up it up?” Reid says. “We know what your father had…”

I screw my face up even more confused. What the fuck is he talking about?

“Reid.” Colt growls only I don’t stay to hear it. I storm off, needing to get some space.

* * *

Reid’s wordskeep echoing in my head.

That I’m cursed.

That I’m unlucky.

Perhaps he’s right; my own mother was found dead beside my cradle, my whole life has seen me flit from one disastrous situation to another.

As I make my way down to the pool, I wonder if everyone else here thinks the same. If that’s what they see when they look at me. Something dangerous. Some sort of harbinger of death.

I toss off my robe, fling it in frustration onto one of the loungers. I didn’t feel like a gym workout would suffice and besides, I used to love swimming, I used to be damned good at it.

Koen’s pool is in the basement. A different basement from the one where he likes to keep his prey. It feels like there’s an entire underground network beneath the hills that his house sits on. That he’s got an army stationed here. I know they have sleeping quarters, living quarters, but Koen was more than clear that certain doors, certain areas were off-limits and I’ve made sure I respected that despite my curiosity.

Though there’s no natural sunlight, there’s a huge glass light above the pool, giving the illusion that we’re in the Bahamas or somewhere equally as luxurious. Around the pool are tropical plants, with giant leaves, in pots so big they could fit a human easily.

There’s a separate jacuzzi. And a plunge pool. There’s even a sauna at the very end, though I don’t like the heat of it, so I don’t indulge.

I dive in and it takes a few lengths before I manage to find that mental calm that turns this from a conscious effort of coordination into something streamlined. Something effortless. I channel my anger, my frustration, even my fear into every stroke of my arms, every kick of my feet. I don’t know how long I swim for. I don’t really care. I just know that when I come to a stop I feel calm, I feel okay.

I ease myself out of the pool, grab the towel and dry my face.

It’s the sound of hurried footsteps, the sound of someone all but smashing into the room that makes me turn.

Koen comes to a stop. His eyes seem to bore into me like he’s never seen a girl in a bikini before. A part of me wants to squirm, to cover myself, but it’s the heat in his gaze that holds me captive.

It feels like time stops.

It feels like everything stops.